The World
Record for the Shortest Snake

The worlds shortest
snakes are the thread snakes (family Leptotyphopidae). There are about
60 species, widely distributed in tropical America, Africa and parts of
western Asia, and they are all shorter than 40cm (16in). The shortest
of all is the very rare thread snake Leptotyphlops bilineata, which
is known only from Martinique, Barbados and St. Lucia, in the Caribean.
The longest known specimen measured 10.8cm (4.5in) and had such a small,
matchstick thin body it could have entered the hole left in a standard
pencil after removing the lead.

Some worm-like blind
snakes (family Typhlopidae), which are widely distributed in the warmer
parts of the world, are also very small. Typhlops fornasinii of
east Africa, T. caecatus and T. hallowelli of West Africa,
and T. anchietae of Angola all measure 12.7-15.2cm (5-6in). Most
blind snakes (there are 150 species in all) feed on small invertebrates,
especially ants and termites.

The shortest of the
'giant' snakes (the boas and pythons - all of which kill their prey by
constriction) is the dwarf boa Tropidophis pardalis, found in Cuba,
which has a length of about 30cm (12in). It feeds mainly on lizards, but
probably takes small mammals and frogs when the opportunity arises.